The revolution has plunged into unchartered waters: SACP

Rustenburg - The national democratic revolution has been plunged into unchartered waters, the SA Communist Party (SACP) said at a provinicial congress in the North West province on Friday.

"The revolution is facing a difficult, and an uncertain, situation. Key instruments of the state that should be at the service of the revolution, to advance the interests of the people, are being destroyed. The productive sector of the state, made up of state owned enterprises and public entities, has particularly been plunged into a major crisis," said general secretary Blade Nzimande.

He was speaking at the Moses Kotane (North West) provincial congress of the SACP in Klerksdorp.

"On the surface, the crisis manifests itself as a crisis of governance decay and mismanagement. Yes it involves both governance decay and mismanagement, and the rot must be dealt with decisively and brought to an end."

Nzimande said the crisis was essentially a direct result of primitive wealth accumulation on a private basis.

"The crisis was caused by those who are using public resources to pursue self-enrichment.

The crisis finds its profound expression in money matters and procurement including at the Central Energy Fund, Denel, Prasa, PetroSA, SAA, SABC, our erstwhile trusted SA Revenue Service [SARS], other public entities and key state institutions were plunged into crisis because of the greed."

He said instead of supporting the SA Post Bank to become a vibrant state-owned developmental bank to serve the people, a tender was created and unlawfully awarded to Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) to distribute social grants to millions of South Africans.

CPS is a subsidiary of Net1, listed on Nasdaq, the American Stock Market.

"The tender involves Grindrod Bank, which is made up of, notably, apartheid era financial monopoly interests. What we have seen are efforts that perpetuated the unlawful social grants distribution tender. This is visibly continuing. The agenda is also creating uncertainty affecting social grants recipients."

He called on the provincial congress to discuss strategies on deepening the mobilisation "until we have rid our society of the rot".

Nzimande said it was important to recognise that while an independent commission of inquiry into state capture was important, commissions and courts on their own would not fundamentally alter the balance of forces.

"It is also important to pay attention to the situation in the province. The SACP in North West must be seen intensifying work to end corruption and to have government at all levels serve the people."

He urged the party to be more involved in the struggle facing the workers in the mines and other sectors of the economy.

"Our party’s leadership is deeply concerned, in this regard, about the mass retrenchment facing workers in the mining sector both in this province of Moses Kotane and in other provinces.

"The mass retrenchment of workers by the capitalist mining bosses is aimed at one thing and one thing only, namely to profit maximisation to accumulate wealth on a private basis.

In addition to rigorously confronting the greed, we must intensify the struggle for socialism – which is the only sustainable way forward," said Nzimande